In her new book, first lady explains how her garden grows

First lady Michelle Obama makes her literary debut Tuesday with a book about the White House garden, an idea born in her Chicago kitchen.

"American Grown: The Story of the White House Kitchen Garden and Gardens Across America" is a memoir, how-to, collection of recipes and infomercial for her "Let's Move" anti-obesity campaign.

Filled with striking photos, the book weaves glimpses of the first family's life into the story of what began as a 1,100-square-foot plot and has grown into a lush, colorful and exquisitely tended patchwork of fruit, vegetables and herbs that feeds her family, state dinner guests and the homeless.

Obama writes that while putting dinner on the table in Chicago early in the last presidential campaign season, she thought that if her husband won, she might, as first lady, focus on healthy eating. "That night, it occurred to me that planting a garden at the White House … could be one small way to get started," she writes.

She's plain about her urban roots — once thinking tomatoes came only in cellophane-wrapped green plastic trays — and quick to acknowledge the White House chefs, National Park Service workers and schoolchildren who have helped the garden grow.

The first lady mentions Chicago fixtures such as the Rainbow Beach Victory Garden, Iron Street Urban Farm and the old vegetable trucks that wheeled produce into urban areas — one truck employed her late father in his youth — and are succeeded by today's Fresh Moves mobile produce market.

Dog Bo is a presence in the book. Daughters Malia and Sasha are not shown in any photos.

The 272-page book from Crown Publishers sells for $30. Author proceeds go to the National Park Foundation.